NewsWrap
for the week ending August 24th, 1996
(As broadcast on THIS WAY OUT Program #439,
distributed 08-26-96)
[Compiled & written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to
Brian Nunes, Jason Lin, Ron Buckmire,
Bjorn Skolander and Greg Gordon]
Advertising revenue is booming for U.S. gay and lesbian periodicals,
according to the 3rd annual report by Mulryan/Nash. The report found a
record total of nearly 74-million-dollars spent for an almost 20% increase
over last year. That's more than three times the growth rate ofadvertising
in mainstream periodicals -- and also well ahead of other niche markets. New
York-based Mulryan/Nash was founded specifically to help mainstream
advertisers target the "pink dollar" ... but each year their annual survey of
well over 100 magazines and newspapers in the United States has found the
greatest advertising income coming from bars & clubs, 800 & 900 phone
numbers, and personal ads.
Virginia lesbian Sharon Bottoms, who in 1993 lost custody of her son to her
own mother in a highly publicized case that went to the Virginia State
Supreme Court , was ready to exchange further pursuit of full custody for
more visitation. She kept her part of the bargain, announcing last week that
she was giving up the legal struggle for Tyler Doustou, now age 5, but she
didn't get much in return. She had been limited to seeing him twice weekly
at sites other than the home she shares with her partner, April Wade. This
week a lower court judge gave Sharon the chance to take Tyler home alternate
weekends, plus one summer weekend and two holidays per year, but only if Wade
is absent from their apartment. And while Wade had previously been allowed
to talk with Tyler by phone, she is now barred from speaking with him at all.
Wade is bitter, Sharon is broken-hearted, and Sharon's mother, Kay Bottoms,
is pleased.
Although 16 U.S. states so far have enacted laws to deny legal recognition
to same-gender marriages which might -- someday -- be performed in another
state, Mississippi 's Republican Governor Kirk Fordice didn't wait for the
state legislature: he issued an Executive Order on August 22. Fordice
announced the order in a press conference at the state capitol while flanked
by members of right-wing groups including the Mississippi Family Council and
the American Family Association.
California's Republican state legislators are also determined to deny legal
recognition to gay and lesbian couples. The California Assembly had
enthusiastically passed in January one bill designed to deny recognition to
legal gay and lesbian marriages performed in another state. But a funny
thing happened on the way to the Senate floor -- a Senate committee added an
amendment to establish in California a statewide domestic partners registry
for purposes of health care benefits, hospital visitation, conservatorship,
and inheritance. It was a motion to repeal that amendment that split the
Senate down the middle and created the rare opportunity for the President of
the Senate, Democratic Lieutenant-Governor Grey Davis, to cast a tie-breaking
vote. Saying, "I have always opposed same-sex marriages but I have always
supported domestic partnerships," Davis voted for the domestic partnership
provisions. Openly lesbian Democratic California Assemblymember Carole
Migden told the media, ``If indeed the bill reaches the Governor's desk, if
he vetoes it, it means we were successful in not banning gay marriage, and if
he signs it, it means there's a domestic partnership bill with expanded
benefits. So either outcome would be favorable.'' California Governor Pete
Wilson vetoed a domestic partnership measure in 1994 and has said he'll veto
the current bill if it comes to his desk in its present form. However, the
day after the tie-breaking vote, another bill originally concerning traffic
tickets was commandeered into carrying a denial of recognition to same-gender
marriage, and was passed by the Assemly by a margin of 4-to-3. California
Senate President Pro-tem, Democrat Bill Lockyer, has said he will not allow
the jury-rigged bill to reach the Senate floor.
A Moroccan man has won the right to stay in Britain based on his 13-year
gay relationship with a British national. When the Home Office moved to
deport the Moroccan, he appealed the decision with the support of the
Stonewall Immigration Group. The Immigration Appeals adjudicator ruled in
favor of the gay couple on compassionate grounds, and indicated that
deportation might have been in violation of the European Convention on Human
Rights. Stonewall says this is their 16th win with no defeats, which makes
them hopeful of future policy change establishing immigration rights for
same-gender couples.
Consumer rights advocate Ralph Nader became the Green Party's candidate for
the U.S. Presidency this week, but he's not adopting their platform, which
includes supportive positions on gay and lesbian civil rights. When asked
about legalization of same gender marriages, he refused to answer, saying,
"It's an excellent platform, but I'm independent and I'm not running on any
platform. I'm emphasizing the parts that reflect my own interests."
The leadership of eight major U.S. transgender organizations met in
mid-August to form what they hope will be a national movement against
gender-based oppression called "GenderPAC". Although the "PAC" does refer to
a political action committee, the coalition is much more than the elections
fund-raiser that usually implies: the group hopes to combine the approaches
used by all the largest national U.S. gay and lesbian organizations to win
social justice for tranys of all ages in every institution in society.
GenderPAC will hold a National Mobilization Meeting in Philadelphia in early
November for serious strategic planning.
When Sweden's national church, the Svenska Kyrkan, began its annual synod
August 20th, gays and lesbians were nowhere on the agenda, although gay and
lesbian ordinations and partnerships are continuing controversies within the
church. So two Swedish national gay and lesbian organizations, the advocacy
group RFSL and the Christian group EKHO, called a meeting and press
conference of their own. They presented a gay-friendly minister and an
openly gay man describing their experiences. They hope to develop a network
of people to work against homophobia within the Church.
Sweden's hip commercial television channel ZTV will unveil the nation's
first regular weekly gay and lesbian TV show, HOMOGEN, on September 2nd.
HOMOGEN will be co-hosted by veteran lesbian activist Anita Kettunen with
gay press photographer Peter Knutson on the culture beat. Music, news and
fitness segments are also planned by producer Nicke Johansson, who's known
for his documentary of the Stonewall 25 celebration in New York City. Also
about to begin in Sweden is a weekly column by gay press journalist Claes
Gylling in the mainstream newspaper "Arbetet/Nyheterna".
The U.S. national Deaf Queer Resource Center (DQRC) has announced that its
website has received two significant honors in the past week. First it was
named one of the most outstanding sites on the Web by Q Planet, and then it
won the United Kingdom's Freedom Award of Excellence. Now on the eve of its
first birthday, the DQRC site has received more than 60,000 visits and is now
averaging more than 200 each day. Intended to provide resource information
on the Web for and about the deaf lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender
communities, the site also includes a discussion forum, a bulletin board and
a people section. The Web site is located at deafqueer.org.
"OLA-Archiwum", Poland's first lesbian archives, is being organized by a
team of women in the city of Lodz. The archives will collect a range of
lesbian-feminist writings, including foreign materials in translation, and
also serve as a safe gathering place and a center for activism. Ultimately
the archive will have a library, international resource bank and regular
publications.
A small study looking at testosterone in butch-femme lesbian couples and in
oil field engineers was reported at the mid-August meeting in Toronto of the
American Psychological Association. Although in the 28 lesbian relationships
studied, the butches appeared to have higher testosterone levels than their
individual partners, they did not have more testosterone as a group. As for
the mining engineers, the opportunities for money and advancement might make
the field attractive to men with high testosterone levels, but the isolation,
long hours and lack of physical activity tend to drive them away. That study
was based on only 9 engineers in training, of whom only 1 of 5 with high
testosterone levels intended to continue the work, while all 4 of those with
low testosterone planned to stay. The studies by James Dabbs of Georgia
State University at Atlanta associated higher testosterone levels with
assertiveness, dominance, competitiveness, and masculinity.
And finally ... in the wake of the Republican National Convention, some San
Diego residents felt their city had been psychically polluted. So, more than
200 liberals -- at least a quarter of them gays and lesbians -- gathered at
the Convention site to exorcise what they described as "residual evil".
Their "spiritual cleansing" ritual included burning sage and Native American
chanting and drumming. The participants all felt better afterwards ... and
one even remarked that the weather had gotten cooler "after all that hot air
left town".
---------*-----------
Sources for this week's report included: The Associated Press; Business
Wire/U.S.; Reuter News Service; The San Francisco Chronicle; United Press
International; The Los Angeles Times; EuroQueer Digest; Kom Ut/Sweden;
Rex Wockner International News Service; and cyberpress releases from the
Forum On the Right to Marry/Boston; the Stonewall Immigration Group/U.K.;
RFSL/Sweden; and the International Lesbian & Gay Association.